Oil Show to offer 'something for everyone'

Published 2:05 pm, Thursday, October 16, 2014

Panoramic view of the 2012 Permian Basin International Oil Show from a Mustang HD600 oil rig built by Rig Works for Globe Energy Services. James Durbin/Reporter-Telegram

Panoramic view of the 2012 Permian Basin International Oil Show from a Mustang HD600 oil rig built by Rig Works for Globe Energy Services. James Durbin/Reporter-Telegram

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Daniel Holley and Wayne Tucker, with Bio S.I., get their booth ready for visitors Tuesday morning at the Permian Basin International Oil Show in Odessa. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram less

Daniel Holley and Wayne Tucker, with Bio S.I., get their booth ready for visitors Tuesday morning at the Permian Basin International Oil Show in Odessa. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram Tim ... more

Photo: Tim Fischer

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James McGehee gets a close look at a cutaway example of a MTU 1300 diesel motor that can be used for mobile rig applications during the 2012 Permian Basin International Oil Show Wednesday at the Ector County Coliseum in Odessa. James Durbin/Reporter-Telegram less

James McGehee gets a close look at a cutaway example of a MTU 1300 diesel motor that can be used for mobile rig applications during the 2012 Permian Basin International Oil Show Wednesday at the Ector County ... more

Photo: JAMES DURBIN

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Oil and gas industry vendors from around the country and world talk with prospective clients Tuesday morning at the Permian Basin International Oil Show in Odessa. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Oil and gas industry vendors from around the country and world talk with prospective clients Tuesday morning at the Permian Basin International Oil Show in Odessa. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Photo: Tim Fischer

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Brett TRent, left, with General Truck Body talks with Michael Sessions Tuesday morning at the Permian Basin International Oil Show in Odessa. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Brett TRent, left, with General Truck Body talks with Michael Sessions Tuesday morning at the Permian Basin International Oil Show in Odessa. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Photo: Tim Fischer

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Tom Schneider taks with coworker Whitney Loeb as they wait for visitors to their booth, Target Logistics Tuesday morning at the Permian Basin International Oil Show in Odessa. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Tom Schneider taks with coworker Whitney Loeb as they wait for visitors to their booth, Target Logistics Tuesday morning at the Permian Basin International Oil Show in Odessa. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Photo: Tim Fischer

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Oil and gas industry vendors from around the country and world talk with prospective clients Tuesday morning at the Permian Basin International Oil Show in Odessa. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Oil and gas industry vendors from around the country and world talk with prospective clients Tuesday morning at the Permian Basin International Oil Show in Odessa. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Photo: Tim Fischer

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Oil and gas industry vendors from around the country and world talk with prospective clients Tuesday morning at the Permian Basin International Oil Show in Odessa. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Oil and gas industry vendors from around the country and world talk with prospective clients Tuesday morning at the Permian Basin International Oil Show in Odessa. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Photo: Tim Fischer

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Oil and gas industry vendors from around the country and world talk with prospective clients Tuesday morning at the Permian Basin International Oil Show in Odessa. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Oil and gas industry vendors from around the country and world talk with prospective clients Tuesday morning at the Permian Basin International Oil Show in Odessa. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Photo: Tim Fischer

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Aubrey Miskell, left, with Detcon, talks with John Shirley Tuesday morning at the Permian Basin International Oil Show in Odessa. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Aubrey Miskell, left, with Detcon, talks with John Shirley Tuesday morning at the Permian Basin International Oil Show in Odessa. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Photo: Tim Fischer

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Oil and gas industry vendors from around the country and world talk with prospective clients Tuesday morning at the Permian Basin International Oil Show in Odessa. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Oil and gas industry vendors from around the country and world talk with prospective clients Tuesday morning at the Permian Basin International Oil Show in Odessa. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Photo: Tim Fischer

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Matt Steitz, right with Surefire Industries, talks with Jared Gould Tuesday morning at the Permian Basin International Oil Show in Odessa. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Matt Steitz, right with Surefire Industries, talks with Jared Gould Tuesday morning at the Permian Basin International Oil Show in Odessa. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Photo: Tim Fischer

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Charles Perry and his wife Mary Jo Perry are honored Tuesday at the opening of the Permain Basin International Oil Show in Odessa. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Charles Perry and his wife Mary Jo Perry are honored Tuesday at the opening of the Permain Basin International Oil Show in Odessa. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Photo: Tim Fischer

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Oil Show to offer 'something for everyone'

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Seeing the success of Tulsa’s international oil show in the 1930s, a group of Odessa supporters wanted to duplicate that success in Odessa.

After an intensive lobbying effort, the group won the right to host an oil and gas industry trade show they dubbed “The Little International Oil Show.” First held in 1940, it included 35 exhibitors and was held in Floyd Gwinn Park.

World War II intervened, but in 1950 the show was revived as the Permian Basin Oil Show, held in even-numbered years. It has outgrown its Tulsa inspiration to become the world’s largest onshore oil and gas trade show. In 1994 it was renamed the Permian Basin International Oil Show.

Relocated from Floyd Gwinn Park to the Ector County Coliseum grounds, this year’s show will host about 685 companies occupying 1,164 exhibit spaces over 444,800 square feet. Organizers added 39 exhibit spaces this year, said Tony Fry, who has served as executive director since 2006 and is overseeing his fifth show.

Exhibitors are coming from throughout the Permian Basin, the state, the country and even internationally. Companies from Canada and China are among those signed up for exhibit space. Visitors are expected to come from other countries as well.

Fry has seen the scope of the show expand from a regional exposition to one that attracts global attention. When he first became involved with the Oil Show in the 1970s, about 90 percent of the exhibitors had at least one office in the Permian Basin. Despite the show’s growth, he said most exhibitors still have a local presence.

This year, “we’ve ramped up to handle 50,000 visitors,” Fry reported. At the last show in 2012, he said just under 40,000 registered to attend.

Exhibitors and visitors are expected from other nations in South America, from Canada and China, as well as other countries, due in part to the Permian Basin’s resurgence as a major U.S. oil and gas producing region.

“People from other areas are interested in what we do in secondary recovery, and certainly what we’re doing in the shale plays,” he said.

Larry Wadzeck, this year’s Oil Show president, said activity in the Permian Basin oil fields has been high, but he expects industry personnel to find time to walk through the Oil Show gates.

“There’s a lot to be gained by coming though our doors — that’s why companies make the time to send their people. As shorthanded as we are, I feel companies have to believe they get a return on their investment by attending the Oil Show. The same with the exhibitors,” Wadzeck said.

A number of companies have taken multiple exhibit spaces and will be installing high-end displays, many with flat-screen televisions running videos about their products and services. Step outside, and visitors will see a forest of pumping units, drilling rig masts, on-site living quarters and large gang trucks.

Fry and Wadzeck note that exhibitors invest significant sums not only in their exhibit booths but in bringing those booths — and their equipment — to the Oil Show.

Wadzeck said when he was asked to serve as president of this year’s show, his goal was to continue the tradition that began in 1940 and “put on the best Oil Show we can.”

“We want every person in the industry, from the guys who actually begin the location, to have something to see at the Oil Show. We may have larger companies with big media displays, but also the small guy who just wants to shake hands,” he said.

The exhibits look at the Permian Basin and how to help Permian Basin applications, Wadzeck said.

Over the years, the Oil Show has evolved from a festival-type atmosphere, in which families were welcome and a carnival was frequently held along side the show, to a business-oriented event. Attendance is limited to industry personnel, and no one under the age of 16 is admitted.

The exception is students, and Fry and Wadzeck not only invite local schools to inquire about tours but urge area colleges to send their students, especially engineering students, to attend and even work behind the scenes. Oil Show organizers regularly donate to scholarships for local college students.